CHARLESTON, SC – North Carolina A&T went from a team that could not get the ball past midcourt into a team poised to upset the No. 1 women's basketball team in the Coastal Athletic Association on Sunday afternoon. But A&T turnovers late in the game helped the College of Charleston Cougars remain undefeated in the CAA with a 71-62 win over the Aggies at TD Arena.

The Aggies dropped to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in conference play. Fifth-year center Chaniya Clark had 16 points and 18 rebounds, finishing one rebound shy of her career high. Clark now needs 16 points to become the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 points exclusively in an Aggies uniform. When she does, she will also become just the third player in program history with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in a career.

Meanwhile, the Cougars won their ninth straight. They improved to 16-3 overall and 8-0 in league play. Charleston had a huge advantage in 3-point shooting, going 8-for-22 (.364) from beyond the arc. The Aggies were 0-for-10. The Cougars looked the part of an undefeated conference leader early in the game.

Charleston's full-court pressure kept the Aggies from crossing midcourt for the first 2:15, forcing five turnovers and boosting the Cougars to a 10-1 lead.

An Aggies turnover, which led to a transition layup by Charleston's Tyja Beans, led to the Aggies calling a timeout within the first 3 ½ minutes of the game. Despite the timeout, the Cougars increased their lead to 24-10 on a Taryn Barbot 3-pointer. However, the Aggies seemed to gain their composure after the Barbot three.

The Aggies trailed 29-17 entering the second quarter. They outscored the Cougars 19-4 over the first 7 ½ minutes. During the spurt, Clark followed her own miss to give the Aggies their first lead at 34-33 with 2:46 to play in the half. Thirty seconds later, sophomore Elliott Jessup lobbed a pass inside, and Clark scored to push A&T's lead to three. Two free throws from six-year guard D'Mya Tucker gave the Aggies a 40-38 halftime edge.

A&T's lead grew to seven at 50-43 with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter on a Darrionna Howard layup. A 9-0 Charleston run gave the Cougars a two-point lead before junior Paris Locke took a pass from freshman Jamyia Lindsey to tie the game at 52-52 with 1:07 to play in the third quarter. But Charleston scored the final six points of the period to take a 58-52 lead into the fourth.

Tucker had A&T's answer. She scored the first six points of the final period to tie the game at 58. A Locke free throw then gave the Aggies a 59-58 advantage with 5:15 to play. Sophia Tougas put Charleston back ahead with a 3-pointer. Locke responded, converting an and-1 after Clark set her up with a pass on the layup.

Locke's free throw gave the Aggies a 62-61 lead with 4:27 remaining in the game. The free throw marked the Aggies' final point of the game.

Taylor Barbot's pull-up jumper gave Charleston the lead. After an Aggies turnover, Grace Ezebilo scored on a layup and earned an and-1 opportunity. Ezebilo missed the free throw. Howard grabbed the rebound but was called for traveling. That turnover led to a Beans jumper, giving the Cougars a 67-62 lead with three minutes remaining.

Over A&T's next four possessions, they went 0-for-2 from the floor and turned the ball over twice. An Aggies turnover with 1:49 remaining led to a Beans layup to give the Cougars a 69-62 advantage. Marrisa Brown delivered the assist after recording the steal.  Beans was one of four players who scored in double figures with 11.

The Cougars used A&T's 28 turnovers to finish with a 32-20 advantage in points off turnovers, but the Aggies did out-rebound Charleston 45-31 and outscored the Cougars 19-11 in second-chance points. Taylor Barbot led the Cougars with 18 points, and her twin sister, the reigning CAA Player of the Year and preseason CAA Player of the Year, Taryn Barbot, had 16.

Tucker and Paris scored 13 each. Howard had 10 points and eight rebounds. The Aggies host Towson on Friday, January 30, at 7 p.m. at Corbett Sports Center.